


Collared

by Spectascopes



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Collars, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Past Abuse, Self-Harm, Underfell, Underfell Sans, Underswap Sans, underswap - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 03:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10631418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spectascopes/pseuds/Spectascopes
Summary: Blue doesn't know why their new house guest wears a collar.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i usually post stuff like this on my other account but it isn't super NSFW so i'll post it here- its another WIP that probably should've gotten another chapter but i never bothered, wrote it a few months ago, just take my trash
> 
> WARNING: self harm and mentions of abuse

 

Blue had asked about the collar before, but the other him from a different universe always avoided the question. He’d mentioned something about his brother- Blue had no clue what Red’s Papyrus had to do with him being collared like a dog, but he didn’t press it. 

Red didn’t leave the house much, not after people in public has asked about the collar. Anytime either of the native brothers brought up the red piece of leather around his neck, he retreated into himself and got defensive. Blue had begun to assume it was some form of a kink- that maybe Red just liked wearing the collar a lot but was embarrassed about talking about it. It seemed odd to Blue that the Sans would wear the collar but get so ruffled when it was brought up, but he learned to stop questioning it. Even if he seemed maybe a little young to be doing that sort of thing, he didn't want to press the already-anxious monster. So he didn't ask.

For the most part, anyways.

They were watching a movie together. Red sat beside him, drawn up and taking as little space as possible. Blue wished he’d sit like a normal monster, but again, he wouldn’t press it. 

Blue tried to pay attention to the movie, he really did, but Red kept fiddling with the collar. The pieces of metal on it would jangle and pull Blue out of the movie and direct his attention at the house guest. 

He only made it half an hour in before he looked sharply over at Red.

“Red. You’ve been playing with that thing the whole movie. Why don’t you just take it off?”

Red shrank further into the opposite side of the couch. Blueberry regretted his words immediately.

“S-Sorry. I’ll stop. Sorry,” he said. He glanced quickly at Blue before he looked back at the screen. “Sorry,” he repeated.

“It’s fine… I’m sorry I snapped.”

“I’d take it off if I could,” he mumbled. Blue looked at him a little quizzically.

“Why can’t you…?”

Red ducked his head. He was smaller and younger than Blue already, but he seemed tiny with his knees pulled up.

“It’s… got my bro’s magic. I can’t take it off… not unless he dies or releases it.”

“Why in the world would your brother put a collar on you that you can’t take off?” Blue asked, maybe a bit too nonchalantly. He paused the movie and turned himself more towards Red. “That seems a bit… strange.”

Red didn’t say anything. Blueberry went to continue, but then he saw Red shaking. 

“Red? I’m sorry, did I say something?”

“Can’t we just watch the movie?” he asked. It might have came off as rude, but he was almost whining. 

“Oh… oh, of course,” he said, trying to ignore the unease in his bones. He played the movie again and tried his very hardest to concentrate, but the damned collar kept weighing on his mind. Had it been an accident? Why would Red’s Papyrus put that thing on him? It was demeaning! He could understand if it was from a sexual perspective, but that didn’t seem to be the case- so why in the world would a Papyrus do something like that?

Even when the movie was over and Blue was laying in his bed, he was still thinking about Red and the collar. 

 

Blue was woken by the sound of pained grunts and strange noises coming from downstairs. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, thinking at first it must have been Papyrus and his nightmares. But… he wouldn’t be downstairs?

Blue got out of bed and walked quietly out of his room and down the hall, towards the stairs. He cracked open the door to Pap’s bedroom but saw his brother sleeping like a rock amidst the general disarray of his bed. He sighed and closed the door gently- Papyrus had always been a heavy sleeper. 

He picked his way downstairs, unsure if he’d been dreaming or if the sounds he’d heard were actually real. He looked into the living room but found nobody on the couch. Or the kitchen. He was about to call for Red when he heard it again- something like a painful whimper coming from the bathroom.

He walked quietly over to the door and leaned his skull against it. A few moments passed. He heard a noise sort of like scraping before another grunt- undoubtedly from Red- came through the door.

His first thought was that he was masturbating. He debated going back upstairs when he heard a quiet sniffle. He reached for the handle. Some people were into weird things, right? Maybe he should mind his own business. 

“Ngh- get off- fuck-”

Blue rapped gently on the door. He heard scrambling from inside and a squeak.

“Red? Are you okay?”

Red didn’t reply. Blue frowned and put his hand on the doorknob.

“Red, I’m coming in, okay?”

Again, no reply. 

Blue hesitantly opened the bathroom door. He saw the rug beside the tub was out of place, and the light was off. 

He spotted Red a moment later, sitting on the closed and generally unused toilet, a razor blade scratching in vain at the collar around his throat.

He’d missed a few strokes. Even as Sans watched, the wide-eyed, distant monster missed the collar and carved a deep line into his neck. It swelled with red blood before joining the other rivulets that had trailed down and moistened his shirt.

“Red!” Blue said, hurrying forward and grabbing the shaking monster’s wrist in his hands. Red grunted and tried to pull away at first, frantic eyes finding Blue’s, but the bigger Sans squeezed his wrist tighter and his death grip opened, the razor blade clanging loudly to the bare bathroom floor.

The cuts didn’t look deadly, but Blue still hurriedly grabbed a hand towel and pressed it to the part of Red’s neck not covered by the collar. He guided Red’s hand up to the towel.

As soon as he put any sort of pressure on the collar, Red yelped and yanked his body away from the touch. He fell to the floor in a clatter of bones and began tugging at his collar. Both hands found their way underneath. He looked wild and frantic- like a feral animal. Blue was on his knees beside him in seconds, trying to pull his hands away before he did anymore damage.

“Red- Red, stop, you’re hurting yourself,” Blue said. His adrenaline was pumping and he had no idea how he was staying calm, but Red  _ needed  _ him to be calm, so he was. He grabbed both of Red’s wrists and the monster briefly tried to kick away from him, twisting and turning in his grasp and sobbing pitifully.

“No- no- get off, don’t fucking touch me,” he bawled.

“Red, look at me, it’s gonna be okay,” Blue said softly. Red stretched his neck far away and kept his eyes screwed shut tight. He kept trying to wrestle his wrists away to pull at the offending object, but he was weak compared to Blue.

“Get off- get off-” he pleaded as his tears fell heavy on the tile floor. Blue took in a shaky breath and continued to hold Red’s wrists.

“Get- off- get off of me- stop touching me-” Red sobbed. 

“Red, breathe- just breathe, Red, it’s gonna be fine. I can’t let you go or else you’ll hurt yourself again.”

Red struggled for a moment longer before going almost completely limp. His bones were rattling from the force of his shaking and sobbing. Sans had never seen a monster break down like this before, but he held Red’s hands and cooed little reassurances to him until it all began to die down.

He hesitantly released Red’s hands. They didn’t leap to the collar. Blue scrambled for the hand towel he’d grabbed earlier and pressed it to his neck, careful of the collar. The marks were still oozing, droplets hitting the floor with little  _ plonks _ that Blue could hardly hear past Red’s rattling breaths.

Red kept his eyes shut. He groaned at the contact to his wounds but didn’t go into a frenzy. Blue gently guided his hand to his neck and pressed it to the towel.

“You have to keep pressure on it- you’re still bleeding.”

“I-I’m sorry,” he croaked, briefly opening his eyes to give Blue a downright miserable look. “Sorry- I… ngh,” he finished.

“It’s okay- shh, it’s fine, Red, don’t worry. Are you okay now?”

Red paused a moment before shaking his head. His cheekbones were wet with tears.

“I don’t understand,” Blue said quietly. He went to move away from Red, but Red jerked forward and grabbed his hand.

“No- don’t leave me-”

“I’m not leaving,” Blue said at once. Red took in a shaking gulp and stared at Blue like he knew the answer to some unasked question. Blue moved closer and offered Red his arms. Red wrapped his arms around the bigger Sans’s frame and cried into his night shirt.

“I’ve got you, don’t worry,” Blueberry said, rubbing his back. He took up the neglected towel and pressed it back to Red’s neck, but it seemed like the worst of the bleeding was over. Still…

“Red… I don’t understand. You said that your brother put the collar on you- why would he do something like that?”

“H-He said I was his dog- a-and dogs have to wear collars- so… so people know who they belong to,” Red whined. “I tried to stop him- I-I promise I tried- he- he just- he wouldn’t listen- he-” Red’s words were broken with cracks and hiccups as he grabbed at Sans’s shirt tighter. “I want it  _ off _ I hate it- I hate it so much- everybody stares at it, I  _ hate it-!” _ Red broke off with a little wail, grabbing at Blue so tight that it almost hurt. He was shaking with renewed vigor again.

Blue’s soul was clutched with pity for the pathetic monster hugging him, but he managed to shush him and run a reassuring hand over his skull. He didn’t have anything to say- what could he possibly say to that? Sorry? He’d just confessed that his brother had collared him like a dog, had  _ called him a dog _ , there wasn’t anything Blue could say to him. 

“Shh… shh, Red, it’s okay- he’s not here. You… you’re nobody’s dog. You’re a person, Red.”

Red didn’t say anything. He was still maintaining his death grip, but Blue didn’t mind- it was the least he could do to be there for the hurting monster. He kept the towel to his neck as Red sobbed and cried and bawled, letting loose all the things he’d been keeping in since he’d arrived in their universe. He was such a little monster. Blue rubbed his back and wondered if he’d been getting enough to eat. He definitely hadn’t been getting the love he deserved. 

Red calmed down after what felt like hours. He shoulders still shook from his little sobs, but it was getting better. Blue eased him off and sat him on the edge of the bathtub, careful and slow in his movements. He was glad he’d had time to think of what to say, but first he checked the towel and the wounds on Red’s neck. They were deep and would likely scar, but they weren’t bleeding anymore, at least not so bad as before. 

“Red, is it okay if I clean these up? I don’t want them to get infected,” Blue said softly.

Red didn’t say anything. He was still crying, the reddish tears running down his face, but he nodded slowly.

Blue was slow and giving. He wet a cloth and wiped away the red on Red’s bones. Red winced and flinched away, shaking like he was about to be hit.

“It’s okay- I’m not going to hurt you, Red. You don’t have to be scared of me.”

Red gritted his sharp teeth together and screwed his eyes shut again. He tilted his head to offer Blue a better view of his neck.

It didn’t take long to get him cleaned up. Blue bandaged Red’s cuts and wiped up the floor and threw the bloodied cloth into the bathtub to clean later. He had more important things to take care of.

Red’s shirt was probably ruined. It had dots of blood on it that had been further spread through the fabric by his tears. Blue helped him up, only just beginning to realize how small and fragile the little monster was.

They went back to Blue’s bedroom. Red kept looking at him, a nervous fear behind his sockets, but Blue just gave him his strongest smile.

“It’s okay- I promise. If I wash your shirt now, it might not stain, so I’ll let you borrow one of mine, okay?”

Red nodded obediently. Once they were in the bigger skeleton’s room, Blue helped him out of his shirt, mindful of the bandages on his neck, and then helped him into one of his. It was a bit big on him, Red wasn’t nearly so filled out as Blue was, but it would do for the night. Red kept giving him short glances before he’d look away again and shuffle his feet or fiddle with his hands. Blue felt so bad for him- he couldn’t even imagine. He led Red over and sat him down on the bed.

“You can sleep in my bed tonight- okay? It’s a lot comfier than the couch. I’ll wash your shirt for you.”

“I-I… I’m sorry,” Red said.

“It’s okay- really, it’s okay, Red, don’t be sorry. I just want you to feel better.”

“W-” Red bit off the question and drew into himself, hand to his wounded neck.

“Do you need something?” Blue asked as softly as he could. “If you need anything at all, please don’t think twice about telling me.”

“W… Will you stay?” Red whined, tears beginning to gather and spill over again. “J-Just for a while-”

“Of course I can stay,” Blue said at once. “It’s alright, don’t cry.”

“S-Sorry,” Red sniffled. Blue couldn’t help himself- he moved closer and gave Red another little hug. 

“Do you want me to sleep in the bed with you? I could sleep on the floor if that’d be better, whatever you want to do.” Blue pulled away enough to see Red’s face. He was still shaking a little.

“If… if it’s okay… stay with me?” Red asked quietly.

Blue nodded. All of his prior grogginess from having been woken up was gone, but he grabbed the blanket and gently settled himself into the bed, offering the open covers to Red. The little monster squiggled underneath with no hesitation but kept himself away from Blue. He was so small…

A few beats of silence passed. Blue closed his eyes, though he doubted he’d be able to sleep again. His mind was heavy and heaving with questions, but he could pretend until Red fell asleep. 

Blue heard quiet sniffles and opened his eyes to see Red, eyes closed, shaking and crying again. He felt another sharp pang of pity and gently moved over and drew Red close to him. As if on instinct the other skeleton hugged him tight and buried his face in Blue’s shirt. Blue wondered how often he’d gotten positive physical contact back from his universe- and he deduced it wasn’t much, and he promised himself he’d fix that. Surely he and Papyrus could get the collar off- their magic combined had to be stronger than that of Red’s brother.

The smaller Sans cuddled up closer to Blue. He was warm- it didn’t take long for him to drift off into sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> (tbh i much prefer the underfell bros as emotionally stunted but deep-down loving edge lords but this set up provides for some good angst so i gotta pick my battles)


End file.
